9 years after mosque attack, paralyzed survivor says Quebec secularism laws hinder progress

Nearly a decade after being shot several times in the Islamic Cultural Centre in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Aymen Derbali is focused on the small wins.

He can move his fingers on his right hand, make his own coffee and is now strong enough to grab his laptop.

Derbali was paralyzed from the chest down after a gunman opened fire in his mosque on Jan. 29, 2017, killing six men and injuring 19.

Sitting in his living room in his motorized wheelchair, Derbali calls some of the improvements “little things,” but they represent major steps in his recovery.

One of the bullets that struck him the night of the attack remains lodged in his spine — too dangerous to remove. He says he’s one of the lucky ones who made it out. 

Derbali had been near the mosque's entrance when the gunman opened fire. Rushing toward the shooter in an attempt to destabilize him, he was shot several times, but still tried to get back up. 

“I thought that this is the end,” he recalled. 

“When I woke up in the hospital ... in the beginning, I thought the hospital was heaven.” 

Nine years later, he’s focusing on his family, community and advocacy — particularly at a time when he says Islamophobia is surging in the province in the wake of several pieces of legislation reinforcing secularism in Quebec.

“Fighting Islamaphobia, this is my duty,” he said. “I have to raise my voice.” 

Following the attack, Derbali expected less Islamophobia and more tolerance. As an advocate in his community, he says he’s witnessed the opposite. 

He still reads hateful comments online and words spreading ignorance. 

He says the secularism laws introduced in Quebec over the past few years under the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government undermine efforts to foster understanding. 

In November, the CAQ tabled another bill aimed at strengthening secularism.